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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Recommended Reading

[TRIGGER WARNING: TRANSPHOBIA, CISSEXISM]

Speaking of writing things, this trans guy wrote a piece on something that also baffles me on a regular basis - people writing about things without even doing the most cursory research to educate themselves on something they're saying.

It doesn't seem like a difficult concept, but time and time again people are completely fucking up on basic shit when writing about marginalized groups, particularly trans people. Sometimes privileged people will ask what they can do to learn more and make sure they don't fuck up. It's not such a hard thing. All you have to do is follow trans people on social media or regularly read their blogs, and in no time you'll come to understand how to respect them as human beings.

And it's very important to do so.

As a writer, I know that when you have access to a platform that people read, what you say on that platform has the potential to uplift people. But it just as easily has the ability to disempower people – we can fall into narratives and stereotypes that make people’s lives a whole lot harder.

And in the case of transgender people, who are already so often victimized and brutalized in our society, when we speak about trans people in ways that are dehumanizing, we literally encourage people to view us and treat us as less than – which far too often leads to violence.

Cis writers, you should care about how you talk about trans people. Your words are the microaggressions that make us feel like the “other.” Your words are the hostility that shatters our psyche and self-esteem. Your words are the battle cry for those waiting for an opportunity to bully us, assault us, or even end our lives.